Nostalgic VW Spot Tops Most-Viewed Car Ad List

Volkswagen’s nostalgic re-creation of the 1969 Woodstock music festival tops iSpot.tv’s latest ranking of the most-viewed automotive commercials – the ads that have collected the highest number of impressions across national broadcast and cable TV airings.

The results for Oct. 30 through Nov. 5 show the VW spot rising from fifth place the previous week. The ad, which features music by Joe Cocker, promotes the automaker’s “People First Warranty.”

Second place goes to a Chevrolet spot appearing frequently in recent rankings. The ad features “real people (not actors)” and points out Chevy’s the only car brand to earn J.D. Power dependability awards for its cars, trucks and SUVs two years in a row.

Is it Christmastime already? Kia thinks so, with its third-place commercial featuring the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s performance of “Carol of the Bells.” The spot, which lets people know they can find deals on ’18 Sorento models this holiday season, has the best iSpot Attention Index (163) in our ranking, getting 63% fewer interruptions than the average auto ad (interruptions include changing the channel, calling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV).

No. 4 goes to Ford’s commercial promoting its year-end sales event where qualified customers can get offers including $4,500 cash back or interest-free financing on the ’17 Escape or Edge.

Our chart closes out with another nostalgic ad, this time for the Subaru Forester, which shows a dad remembering how his daughter grew up with the car – and now he’s tossing her the keys.

iSpot.tv is a real-time TV ad measurement company with attention and conversion analytics from more than 7 million smart TVs.

Data provided by

1. Volkswagen: Rain

200,351,713 Impressions, 87.58 Attention Score, 101 Attention Index, $7,364,660 Est. TV Spend

2. Chevrolet: Who's the Most Dependable?

165,336,929 Impressions, 72.15 Attention Score, 45 Attention Index, $5,594,269 Est. TV Spend

3. Kia: Light Up the Holidays Sales Event: 2018 Sorento

149,004,299 Impressions, 95.37 Attention Score, 163 Attention Index, $4,220,372 Est. TV Spend

4. Ford: Year End Sales Event: First Impression: Escape and Edge

142,633,258 Impressions, 75.09 Attention Score, 50 Attention Index, $2,618,690 Est. TV Spend

5. Subaru: Making Memories

135,281,901 Impressions, 91.11 Attention Score, 129 Attention Index, $1,927,687 Est. TV Spend

TV Impressions - Total TV ad impressions delivered for the brand or spot.
Attention Score - Measures the propensity of consumers to interrupt an ad play on TV. The higher the score, the more complete views. Actions that interrupt an ad play include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV.
Attention Index - Represents the Attention of a specific creative or program placement vs the average. The average is represented by a score of 100, and the total index range is from 0 through 200. For example, an attention index of 125 means that there are 25% fewer interrupted ad plays compared to the average.
Est. National TV Spend - Amount spent on TV airings for the brand’s spots.